Computer

Several offshore oil rigs have been infected with malware accidentally downloaded from its workers’ personal computers. The malware seems to be originating from pirated videos and music that has been downloaded through the satellite connections used by the rigs, as well as pirated material that were already existing on the workers' computers. These malware attacks shed light on several security gaps that could lead to serious dangers, from well blowouts to fatalities.

Jerry Yang, one of the co-founders of Yahoo Inc., is now part of Lenovo’s board of directors. His new position is called the “plum” position, because the only thing he has to do is sit in on the meetings and offer his views. He has no voting rights, or any rights at all. For just being on the board and offering his two cents, he will be paid nearly $200,000. He will be paid $61,875 in cash and be given $135,000 in equity rights.

Dell has posted its 2013 financial results for both Q4 as well as the full fiscal year. In the fourth quarter, Dell’s revenue totaled $14.3 billion, which is an 11% decrease from 2012. Its revenue for the entire year was $56.9 billion, an 8% decrease from last year. Revenue from Dell’s enterprise solutions and services grew 6% in Q4 to $5.2 billion. The revenue for the full year totaled 34%, or $19.4 billion, of Dell’s total revenue. This was a 4% increase from fiscal year 2012.

The thought of a computer that never crashes is incredibly appealing to anyone who has ever used a computer. Researchers from the University College London have created a computer system that they call a "systemic" computer that is able to self-repair and instantly recover from crashes. The researchers believe that their systemic computer could have many uses including the ability to help military drones reprogram themselves to cope with damage sustained in combat.

Intel has announced that it will be shutting down its Desktop Motherboard group in the next few years, with the Haswell motherboards being the last of its offerings. The company will still supply chipsets to third parties, but will cease developing its own desktop motherboards once the Haswell launch is over.

A new small form factor computer debuted recently from computer maker Xi3 Corporation. The little machine is called the Z3ro and has a small form factor roughly the size of a paperback book. The chassis of the tiny computer measures 1.875 x 4.875 x 3.625-inches making it impressively small.

Microsoft has been bragging about the sales figures for Windows 8 touting 40 million licenses sold. Microsoft has also bragged that Windows 8 upgrades have outpaced Windows 7 upgrades. However, rumors are circulating that internally Microsoft is unhappy with the rate at which consumers are adopting Windows 8.

Razer has updated its Orochi gaming mouse with a new, more powerful sensor that provides better accuracy, as well as offering about double the battery life of its predecessor. You can grab the device now for the gamer on your gift list and get it in time for Christmas. The device is priced at $69.99 for those in the US, and €69.99 for those on the other side of the pond.

Apple's new iMac will go on sale on Friday, November 30, the company has confirmed, with the 21.5-inch all-in-one computer available in-store the same day, while the 27-inch iMac will follow on in December. Announced back in October, the new desktop will be priced from $1,299 for the smaller model and from $1,799 for the larger version, with a choice of Core i5 or Core i7 processors.

Back in August, a tiny little computer called Ubi popped up on Kickstarter. Ubi - which is short for Ubiquitous Computer - was a big hit with Kickstarter backers. Team Ubi was only asking for $36,000, but by the time everything was said and done, the group had a whopping $229,594 to work with. It seems they wasted no time in getting to work either, as Ubi went up for pre-order today.